Jeep TJ OME Lift Install

This
writeup will cover the installation of an OME 2.5" lift (springs and
shocks), front and rear extended bump stops, front and rear
adjustable trackbars, JKS "quicker" disconnects and a 1" t-case drop on
a '02 Jeep TJ Sport. This installation was performed on Feb 28th, 2004.
It
was straightforward, but time consuming....and quite tiring I might
add. Luckily, we had an awesome day for it... it was absolutely
gorgeous outside!

I could call him a tool (which he is) but I also had Dale, a.k.a. majikxms,
helping me out with this install which also made the whole thing go
quicker.

Shock Assembly

The day before the
install, I put the Jeep up on jack stands, removed
the wheels and sprayed every bolt that I planned to put a wrench to
with PB Blaster to let them soak over night. I then proceeded to
assemble the shocks. They use a T-bar mounting system that uses two
washers to contain the poly bushing, which keeps the t-bar centered.
The circlip holds the whole thing together and adds a slight preload to
the bushing.

Now
although the directions
say to use a vise or a press to
assemble it, I was too lazy to go out to the garage (it was 1AM at the
time). So in tradition with my trademark for redneck engineering, I
simply slid the washer over the t-bar, used a little dish soap to
lubricate the eye of the bushing and used a pair of channel locks to
push the t-bar through. Then I just installed the other washer and
followed it up with the circlip. Viola…the trick, she is done!

Front Springs &
Shocks

Now onto
the fun stuff…we started with the
front suspension. First we
disconnected the front sway bar links. We took off the nuts and, to my
surprise, needed the forkbar and BFH to break the bar away from the
links. We just beat and bashed on them until they broke loose. Then we
removed the link from the axle by removing the nut and bolt (the bolt
is torx). Then, after supporting the axle with the floor jack, we
removed the shocks and the LCA bolts (at the frame). There were no
spring retaining bolts, so we noted where the spring pigtailed in on
the perch and dropped the axle enough to remove both springs.

Before
installing the new spring we installed the bumpstop
extensions. These particular extensions install on the spring perch
itself and are secured by 3/8" bolts. So, we drilled 5/16" holes,
tapped out threads for a 3/8" bolt and installed the stops. You can
kinda see the bump stops installed in this pic.

Now onto the spring install.
One spring is slightly taller than the
other. The taller one is intended to be (and was) installed on the
drivers side. Fairly simple, we just used the spring compressor to
scrunch the spring down until it would go on the perch, then removed
the compressor, while making sure that the spring pigtailed into the
perch correctly. Then, jacking and jostling the axle, we lined up the
LCA's, reinstalled and torqued the bolts (I reversed the bolts so that
the threads face inward, to facilitate the future installation of an
engine skid) and installed the shocks.

Front Track Bar

Onto the front track bar…First, we removed the bolt at the axle. Then
took out the cotter pin and removed the nut at the frame. Then Dale and
I just took turns beating the heck out of it with the forkbar and BFH
until it finally broke loose. Now to install the new track bar we had
to drill out the frame side hole to 9/16". It's only the top potion of
the hole that needed to be drilled so it took no time at all. Once that
was done we hung the trackbar on the frame side and got the bolt
godzilla tight. Now I was not to worried about getting the axle
perfectly centered, as I had 4wdSpecialtydial
both trackbars in and align it…but I wanted
to get it fairly close. So Jen got in, turned on the jeep and we stood
in front while she turned the steering wheel fully to the right side,
then left, back and forth a few times. We then had her slowly turn the
wheel and eyeballed the axle to center. After which, we installed the
axle side of the tbar and torqued it all up…close enough for gubment
work….

Onto the rear….

Rear Springs, Shocks
& Track Bar

We
started by supporting the axle with a floor jack.
Then we
disconnected the rear sway bar, followed by removing the shocks, which
was a PITA as the upper bolts are just in a tight place. After that we
dropped the trackbar and lowered the axle until we could remove the
springs.

Again,
prior to installing the springs we installed the bumpstop
extensions. These were a lot easier than the fronts. We pulled the
bump stops out of their housings, removed the bolts that hold the
housings to the frame, installed the spacers using the longer bolts
provided and pushed the bump stops back in.

Just
like the front springs, one is slightly taller than the other. The
difference here is that the taller spring goes on the passenger side.
To install the springs, we just used the compressor again. Next we
installed the shocks…again a PITA because of the upper bolts. (The
first image is about two seconds before Dale bonked his head off the
drum. )

Then,
we just bolted in the rear trackbar (again 4wd Specialtydialed both of them in when
they aligned it) and re-connected the rear sway bar.